For Cook, I would begin with 库 Kù, traditionally 庫, because it preserves the opening character of the documented transcription 库克／庫克 Kùkè. There is independent dictionary evidence for 库 as a surname pronounced kù. There is also an important complication: another dictionary records a historical surname reading, shè. The recommendation is specifically Kù, supported by its own surname entry, rather than an assumption that every use of 庫 has one pronunciation. 1, 2, 3
If that explanation feels cumbersome, compare 顾／顧 Gù, another attested surname. It keeps a similar vowel and the same Mandarin tone but changes the initial consonant and the written connection. Keeping 库克 in full is still the clearest option when you want people to recognize Cook rather than adopt a short Chinese surname. These are different priorities, and none requires an invented family history.
Begin with 库克, rather than translating a job
The National Academy for Educational Research's foreign-name manual lists Cook—庫克 in its English section. That is a documented transcription to work from, not a claim that every Cook must use it. The simplified form is 库克. Both characters belong to the transcription of the surname; 克 does not automatically become your Chinese given name. 1
In Mandarin the full form is Kù-kè, two syllables, both with falling fourth tones. Choosing 库 alone removes the second syllable. You keep a recognizable written link if someone sees the full and shortened forms together, but a person hearing Kù alone will not necessarily reconstruct Cook. Using your original spelling beside a chosen Chinese name can make that link explicit.
If you already have a Chinese rendering in professional use, compare it before changing anything. A documented alternative can be useful without displacing your own established identity. This article concerns choosing a conversational surname; it does not establish a change to official records.
The surname reading needs its own evidence
Hàndiǎn explicitly lists a surname sense under 库 kù. The Ministry of Education's historical dictionary, by contrast, separates storage-related kù from a surname entry under shè, illustrated by the historical name 庫鈞. These entries should not be flattened into one piece of evidence. In particular, the ministry entry cannot be cited as proof of the surname reading Kù. 2, 3
That difference does not establish that a present-day Kù surname is invalid: the independent kù surname entry is positive evidence. It does mean the reading deserves a clear note. If choosing 库, learn Kù as the particular Mandarin surname you intend to use and be ready to show the character and tone. Do not switch to Shè simply to satisfy a different historical entry; that would remove the intended sound connection to Cook.
The ordinary association with a storehouse belongs to the Chinese character. It is not an etymology of the English surname, nor a promise that its bearer is organized or wealthy. A surname can have ordinary dictionary meanings without describing the person who chooses it.
What Kù preserves, and what it loses
In the usual English pronunciation of Cook, the vowel is the short vowel heard in book, framed by an initial and a final k sound. Kù keeps an initial k-like consonant and a rounded vowel, but Mandarin u is not that English vowel. It also removes the final k and adds a falling tone. Your own family's pronunciation remains the relevant starting point.
The full Kùkè carries more of the consonantal outline by placing another k at the beginning of a second syllable, but it has to add a vowel after it. It therefore does not reproduce English Cook exactly either. The short form trades further sound information for a one-character surname followed by a separately chosen Chinese given name.
顾 Gù is a different compromise
The education ministry dictionary independently records 顧 gù as a surname; its simplified form is 顾. Gù and Kù have the same Mandarin vowel and fourth tone, but their initial consonants differ. Mandarin g is unaspirated, while k is aspirated. Gù is consequently not a same-sound spelling substitute for Kù. 4
Choose 顾 only if you prefer that surname enough to accept the change. It no longer takes the original first character from 库克. Its ordinary associations with looking back or caring for something are optional associations with the Chinese character, not translations of Cook or evidence about a Cook family's occupation.
My default remains 库 because its written connection is direct and its intended surname reading is attested. 顾 is a useful comparison for someone who wants another established surname and is comfortable explaining a looser link. I have not measured their comparative frequency, familiarity or acceptance, and those should not be implied by this recommendation.
An occupational history does not prescribe your identity
The Dictionary of American Family Names, reproduced by FamilySearch, gives an English occupational route involving cooking, selling prepared food or keeping an eating house. It also records Irish and Scottish cases that may derive from an anglicized Gaelic patronymic. A general surname entry does not tell us which history belongs to your family. 5
Even if the occupational route is relevant, you need not choose a Chinese character meaning “chef”. A modern job title is not automatically an independent Chinese surname. Nor does sharing an occupation with a historical person make that person's surname your cultural equivalent. Without a specific personal reason, the sound-based comparison already supplies a more direct answer.
This leaves room for meaning without fabricating ancestry. You can enjoy the appearance of 库, or the associations of 顾, while saying honestly that you chose a Chinese name for present-day use. Neither choice claims descent from a Chinese lineage or assumes that you work in a kitchen.
Try the full name before deciding
Write Cook—库 Kù and Cook—顾 Gù beside the same prospective Chinese given name. Say them in a short introduction and ask someone familiar with your intended language setting to read them without a pinyin prompt. The useful question is whether the whole name is clear and comfortable, not whether a short surname has preserved every English sound.
For 库 you can explain: 我姓库，库克的库。 For 顾, show the character, because the Cook transcription no longer explains the exact spelling. Check the whole name for unintended word-like combinations.
Start with 库 Kù if keeping the transcription's opening matters most. Compare 顾 Gù if you deliberately prefer the different surname. Keep 库克 if the shorter link loses too much. The best choice is the trade-off you can explain accurately.
Research and methodology notes
1 The NAER manual, PDF p21/printed10, documents Cook—庫克. 2 Hàndiǎn 库 gives an independent surname sense under kù. 3 MOE 庫 separately records the historical surname reading shè; its storage-related kù sense is not used as surname evidence. 4 MOE 顧 supports Gù as the conditional alternative. 5 DAFN Cook supplies general occupational and qualified Gaelic routes; it does not identify a reader's family history.
6 In the recorded U.S. Census surname table, COOK has published rank 66 and frequency 290,386. These are 2020 Census data, released April 14, 2026, with disclosure-avoidance processing, not a count of current 2026 residents. Kù remains the source-specific recommendation, Gù a deliberate alternative.
